James Patterson - Private

“Carla, stay right there in your car. Keep the door locked. I have two or three questions, that’s it.”

Carla, last name unknown, put her key into the ignition and started the car. Cruz crossed in front of the hood around to the passenger side. Carla reached across the seat and pushed the lock button down, but the window was half open.

Cruz reached in, pulled up the door handle, and got into the car.

“Get out or I’ll scream. I’ll call the house and someone will come out here and beat the hell out of you, buddy. They can get real ugly in a hurry.”

“I come in peace. I’m not trying to upset you,” Cruz said. “I just want to ask you about Shelby Cushman.”

“Let me see that badge again.”

Cruz held it up. “I’m licensed,” he said. “But I’m not a cop. I’m here for Shelby.”

Tears suddenly formed in the woman’s eyes. That surprised the hell out of Cruz.

“I loved her,” she said.

“I’ve heard terrific things about her.”

“She would cry for you when you were upset. She’d give you the shirt off her back-even if you didn’t want it. And she was so funny.”

“So what happened to her?”

“What I heard? I don’t know if this is the truth or not. She was in her bedroom, and someone shot her. Shot her twice.”

“How do you know where she was when she was shot, Carla?”

“There was talk around the pool. Wait. I think Glenda said it.”

“Who told Glenda? This is important.”

“I don’t know. And I don’t know anyone who would’ve done anything to Shelby,” Carla said. “But I’m glad you’re trying to find out who killed her.”

Cruz said, “Just between us, you think the Noccias had anything to do with this?”

Carla folded her arms and seemed to shrink into herself. “Is that what you think?”

“I’m asking you.”

“ Shelby was a moneymaker and absolutely no trouble. I just don’t see it.”

Carla was clearly getting restless, and nervous. Cruz smiled at her. “I’m almost done. Who were her regulars? Did anyone in particular strike you as volatile? Or possessive? Or vindictive?”

“Not really. But a couple of guys booked her a lot,” Carla said. “Two of them came in a few times a week. Shelby only worked days.”

“Who were they? This could really help. Did Shelby talk about them, her regulars?”

“ Hollywood types. One is a film director. The other is an actor. A bad-boy type. I can’t tell you who they are. But maybe you can figure it out. Do you like movies?”

“Sure, who doesn’t?”

“You ever seen Bat Out of Hell?”

“Thanks, Carla. You’re terrific.”

“Don’t mention it.” She revved the engine. “Really. Don’t tell anyone. And please don’t be paying me any visits, in there or out here. I’m taking one hell of a chance as it is, sweetheart. I don’t want to end up like Shelby.”

Cruz and Del Rio trooped into my office. Cruz combed his hair back with his fingers, refastened his ponytail. Del Rio righted the chair Andy had knocked over and sat in it.

“Andy fired us? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I had to tell him about Shelby and the spa. He couldn’t believe it.”

“Ooof,” Cruz said. “I feel for the guy.”

“Me too,” I said. “Ever wish you were wrong?”

“He fired us because you told him the truth, huh?” said Del Rio.

“He’ll change his mind in a few days.”

“You think?” Cruz said.

“So, how are you doing?” I asked them. “We’re still working this case, right? We’re going to find out who murdered Shelby.”

Cruz put a hand in his inside pocket. He withdrew a narrow notebook and started to report. He said that he’d interviewed a woman who worked at Glenda Treat’s spa and that she’d given him the names of two clients who saw a lot of Shelby Cushman.

“They’re both in the entertainment business,” Cruz said. “I did some research. Also, I checked with the New York office. One of the guys, Bob Santangelo, came from Brooklyn. You know him?”

“I know his name. I think I’ve seen him in a couple of movies.”

“Pugnacious type from back east. One of those actors who don’t give TV interviews. Likes to throw his weight around.”

“He saw Shelby a lot?”

“A few times a week, apparently. The other guy is Zev Martin, an A-list director, works for Warner Brothers a lot. People say the A stands for asshole in his case. Apparently, he’s quite in love with himself.”

“Bat Out of Hell,” Del Rio said. “Horror classic, freakin’ masterpiece. I saw it about six times. Martin directed it. Santangelo played the bad guy.”

“Both of them are married,” Cruz continued. “Neither has a record.”

“License to carry?” I asked.

“Negative,” said Cruz.

“You have a preference?”

“Nope.”

“You take Santangelo,” I said to Cruz. “Keep in touch.”

Del Rio and I drove to Warner Brothers studios out in Burbank. I showed my badge at security, then told them to check with the studio head, who was a client. A couple of minutes later, I drove down the wide, bright roadway through the lot, past the commissary and the soundstages, out to the bungalows that were laid out in a campus-like setting.

We found Zev Martin working on his motorcycle to the side of a white house with his name stenciled over the door. He was a small guy in his thirties with tightly clipped facial hair and a barbed-wire tattoo around his biceps.

I introduced Del Rio and myself while Martin squinted up at us suspiciously. “What?” he asked.

“We’re investigating the death of Shelby Cushman,” I said. So far, this line had proven to be a conversation stopper. This time was no different.

“You saw her several times a week,” Del Rio said. “At the Benedict Spa. Did she ever say anything to you about anyone giving her trouble there?”

Martin stood up, wiped his hands on a dirty rag, and said, “You don’t go to see girls like that so you can listen to their problems. Pretty funny idea, actually. Is that what you do?” Martin said to Del Rio. “You pay women to talk about themselves? Why don’t you just get married?”

Del Rio ’s bruises were still dark and plentiful. He looked like a pit bull who’d been matched with an equal-and won.

“I don’t pay women,” Del Rio said. “What kind of guy does that, I wonder.”

“Rick,” I said, “wait for me in the car, please.”

But he didn’t listen to me. He grabbed Martin by the shirt and pulled the collar tight at his throat. The bike went over, folded in on itself.

“We don’t want any of your bullshit,” Del Rio said into Martin’s face. “Tell us about Shelby or after I beat your brains in, I’ll personally tell your unfortunate wife about your unfortunate visits to the spa.”

“Hey! What’s with you?” Martin squealed.

I heard the bleeping of a security cart coming up the roadway in our direction.

Martin was going red in the face as Del Rio wrung the next few words out of him. “ Shelby was in love with some guy. Not her husband, okay?”

“Rick,” I said, grabbing him from behind, “let him go.”

“Who was this guy she loved?” Del Rio said, shaking the director.

“I don’t know. It was a rumor with a few of the other girls. Shelby never mentioned it herself.”

I wrenched Rick off Zev Martin and apologized as Rick stalked off toward the car.

“Are you okay?” I asked Martin.

“Fuck no,” he said, running his hand around his throat.

“ Del Rio is a vet,” I said, leaving out that he was also an ex-con. “He’s suffering from PTSD. I’m very sorry.”